


Icebreaker

by thetypingsiren



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Berry bushes lead to romance??, Cute and Awkward Jay, Family Issues, Harry keeps interrupting, Insecure Gil, Insecurities, Jay just wants to talk to Gil, M/M, bless them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25057690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetypingsiren/pseuds/thetypingsiren
Summary: ‘Oh!’ Jay murmured as he took out a handful of berries from his pocket and held them out to me.‘For me?’ I asked and Jay let out a small, breathy laugh that brought a smile to my face.‘Of course.’The narrative behind *that* scene at the berry bush in the third movie and the events that I imagine followed it. Lots of Jay/Gil fluff and some Harry/Uma sprinkled in there as well. I do love a happy ending.
Relationships: Gil/Jay (Disney: Descendants), Harry Hook/Uma
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	1. Getting a Kick out of a Berry Bush

**Author's Note:**

> We start back at the berry bush scene, with some extra commentary from Jay's point of view and then we go back a bit to see how Gil's finding the isle. Jay likes being generous. Enjoy!!

I had never really thought of myself as an open person; they don't really teach openness in the Isle. So when Evie suggested an icebreaker? No. No damn way.

We were all stood together in the castle, empty knight armour surrounding us after the intense battle when she proposed the idea. I suppose she was somewhat right; we did seriously need to become a better team if we were to have any hope of defeating Audrey, but telling other people what I like about them? I don’t even _think_ about what I like about people.

Thank god everyone else hated the idea too – I was in the clear. Until, that is, Gil, loyal pirate and son of Gaston, brought it up once more. This time, it was just us four boys and Dude, wandering through the forest in search of King Ben until we’d stopped for a small rest. But primarily because Gil had found a berry bush and was very excited about it. I guess that’s something like what I must have been like the first time coming to Auradon as well, but probably not nearly as endearing; Gil had obviously never seen fresh fruit before, and his eyes were proof of this, lighting up every time at the mere sight of it.

Had I been staring at him? I need to get a hold of myself; _we’re supposed to be enemies._

‘Hey,’ the sandy-haired boy said, turning to me, ready to attempt to shatter my emotional barriers with some berries, ‘we should play that icebreaker.’ I said nothing, but simply stared back at the boy in front of me ‘Um, Jay,’ he continued. ‘I like the way you can … bounce around and jump off things.’ I raised an eyebrow, trying to hide the smile that was creeping up my lips as Gil asked as a side-comment about whether or not the berries were free. Hesitantly, I moved to stand at the berry bush with him, wondering how I ought to reply.

‘Yeah, um …’ I began, staring at the berry bush rather than at Gil and laughing nervously. ‘I like how you get a kick out of a berry bush.’ Thankfully, Gil smiled in reply, easing my nerves before we both awkwardly looked away.

‘I guess you’ve probably seen everything by now, huh?’ He said, listing the possible things I had presumably seen. ‘You’re probably used to grabbing lunch off of a bush.’ Gil chuckled, but it seemed more self-pitying than brought on by actual amusement and I instantly sought to reassure the guy.

‘No,’ I replied, and Gil’s eyes lit up so much that I felt a deep-rooted need to continue, ‘I mean, not really. I mainly just use the vending machines at practice.’ Tourney tended to take up most of my time anyway, and I usually like the distraction of running at things and exercising, rather than being around all of the couples all of the time.

Here’s a big thing about me; I adore my friends, they’re practically my family. But the only issue is, at the moment, they all spend time with their partners, and on the rare occasion we all spend time together, the others are still talking about them. I love them, but I do like to also savour the time spent not hearing about their relationships.

Although, here, with Gil, I wasn’t thinking about any of that; in fact, I was having a really nice time. I had known Gil when we were younger, when Gil was constantly following around his huge, troll-like brothers or hanging around Uma and Harry to get away from them. Because we hadn’t been in the same gang, we’d barely spoken and were both inclined to greatly dislike one another most of the time, even without knowing anything about the other. But now I could see that Gil was the complete opposite of what I had previously expected; he wasn’t stupid, he just hadn’t seen anything of the outside world. And how are you supposed to get a quality education when your father is Gaston, who doesn’t believe in books, _and_ when you live in the Isle? Who cares if he wasn’t the most intelligent, anyway. He seemed sweet and fun to be around; that’s all I needed and I was quite enjoying the time spent at that berry bush.

That was until Harry Hook decided to butt in.

‘Tourney?’ He gasped, throwing his head back and laughing. I felt my insides shrivel up as Gil’s friend began to talk down to me. ‘That’s a wee boy’s game.’ Yup. Now I very much wanted to crawl into the floor. Why couldn’t Hook just have left them to it, I’d been having such a damn good time up until this exact moment.

‘Hey,’ Gil said, lightly tapping me on the shoulder and, causing my heart to soar completely into the air. ‘You know what would be fun?’ And then, excitedly, we proceeded to list all the things we’d both love to do and it was startling how much you could have in common with someone who was meant to be your enemy; he wanted to go rafting on a jungle river, find a lost civilisation _and_ penguins. So, sure, Gil didn’t know whereabouts penguins where situated, but he had me to help him learn.

‘Well, you’d find those more in like, icebergs,’ I politely corrected him, and the boy next to me smiled, ‘but I’d love to see one of those.’ We both smiled at each other for a moment, and I was personally lost in thought about the idea of travelling with Gil. Suddenly, a new and exciting adventure unveiled before my eyes; Gil and I running around the world together with no-one to interfere.

Then, again, they were interrupted, by Harry, coming to eat a berry with his hook in a pretty good way to show off if I don't mind saying. Then we were all actually brought back to reality when we started to follow Dude and I pulled my head back on, attempting to think straight again past the previous conversation. Yet, as the others and Gil left the clearing to follow Carlos’ dog, I stopped short. Quickly turning back to the berry bush again, I grabbed another handful, thinking maybe Gil might like some for the rest of the journey.

 _We can always go back to hating each other when this is over_ , I thought. Only this time, I wasn’t so sure.

*****

I could not believe how _green_ one place could be. It was quite possibly the most beautiful place I had ever seen in my entire life, but, to be fair, I had not seen many places. When we arrived at Auradon Prep, everything was so vibrant and colourful rather than dark and secluded and, though everyone was asleep, they looked … happy. Or at least, as though they had been happy before they’d fallen into a long slumber; there were people laying across from each other, their hands knotted together in a closeness I had never seen, and people on the floor on blankets with baskets next to them.

‘What were they doing?’ I asked Jay, swallowing some more fruit that I had found. ‘Why are they on the floor?’ Jay looked at me with a confused expression and I suddenly felt as though I’d done something wrong; everyone always looked at me with that expression.

‘You don’t know what a picnic is, do you?’ Jay asked, and something dawned on his face and he shook his head, though, I hoped, not at me. ‘Oh, sorry,’ He began again. ‘I forget they don’t have dates on the Isle.’

Before I could ask what a ‘ _date’_ was, we were rushed over to a stone figure and then proceeded to have a big fight with some knights so … I got a bit side-tracked.

Yet, if I thought things had been bright at Auradon Prep, I was in a big surprise for the woods. Suddenly, I was engulfed by so much green I could hardly have imagined it, the brightness hitting my eyes so viciously, I had to squint to see properly. Jay smiled at me, and lowered my hand from away from my face.

‘Your eyes will adjust naturally,’ he said kindly and I smiled in return, slowly placing my hand to my side and letting my eyes get used to the light. He was right of course, they did adjust – first to my mind-boggling surroundings, then to the beast in front of me. King Ben was not very happy when in Beast form, but my Dad did say that his Dad was the same, especially when hurt. But my Dad did also say that Prince Adam was a vicious monster who stole the most beautiful girl in the village from him and convinced her to marry him so, he wasn’t so sure if he could trust _everything_ his father said anymore.

And Ben didn’t seem too beastly without his fur, sitting on the log with Jay next to him, chuckling about his new beard and pointy teeth. In all fairness, the beard did suit him; _what would Jay look like with facial hair?_ I wondered. I quickly shook my head out of my reverie, now was _not_ the time.

I think I’d always had something of a crush on Jay when we were younger. He’d always been up to something; loud and charming to all around him when they hit their teen years, even me. I was never really used to being flirted with, and I think my dad _probably_ would have killed me if he’d seen me blushing every time Jay sauntered over and leaned on the nearest wall, winking and smiling.

Growing up, I was taught the important things were hunting, flirting with every girl that passed and being able to lift three men on my shoulders at once. My breakfast every morning consisted of four dozen eggs to ‘ _help you get large, Gil, my boy!’_ – I ended up feeding most of them to our dogs, so I grew up much smaller than my brothers. Gaston II and Gaston III were just so much more … _everything_ than me; more manly; more skilled at hunting and sports, and _definitely_ much better with girls. The idea of flirting with a girl just really doesn’t excite me like it does them, but maybe that’s something that happens when you get older. Yeah, it’s totally that.

But, as we began to walk to Evie’s cottage, I turned to see Jay and Harry following slowly behind.

‘Thanks for saving me gorgeous face’ Harry murmured to him with a wink, before coming to walk next to me. A sudden twinge of something reared inside me as Harry began talking about something I couldn’t hear. Jay was now walking behind us and I felt like I should step aside so he could speak to Harry. After all, they were very well-suited to each other; both loud and flirtatious. I’m not really sure why that bothered me so much.

Harry began talking about Uma and our ‘plans for after we save the world’ before Jay interrupted, grinning from ear to ear.

‘Sounds like you and Uma have something going on, Hook,’ he said, coming to stand next to me, his arm brushing mine as they swayed at his sides. I tried not to focus on this too much.

‘Does it?’ Harry said, swallowing, suddenly nervous. Harry didn’t like to talk about it, but I knew he’d had a thing for Uma for a long time; he was flirtatious with everyone, sure, but, in my opinion, it was always Uma.

‘What’s going on there, _bro_?’ Jay asked with a raised eyebrow as I stood awkwardly in between the two of them, wondering if I should add something to the conversation.

‘Well,’ I began matter-of-factly, ‘Harry’s always had a thing for Uma, but she’s way too independent to be tied down easily. But she totally has a thing for him, too.’ There was silence for a moment, Harry slowly turning towards me as I wondered what I’d said that was wrong. Jay’s grin grew even wider.

‘ _Interesting_ …’ Jay said, nodding. Harry, on the other hand, was silent for a while, the look in his eyes almost murderous, until –

‘Wait,’ he stopped in his tracks, looking intently at me, ‘you think she likes me?’

‘Yeah, I – I thought it was obvious …’ I replied, looking at Jay for help.

‘It is … _kinda_ obvious, man,’ Jay said with a chuckle. Harry murmured a small ‘ _huh’_ before continuing to walk again, Jay and I laughing at his spellbound face as we walked behind him, not wishing to interrupt his thoughts.

‘Oh!’ Jay murmured as he took out a handful of berries from his pocket and held them out to me.

‘For me?’ I asked and Jay let out a small, breathy laugh that brought a smile to my face.

‘Of course.’

So I took half of the berries, leaving some for Jay, and we shared them as we continued the short walk to Evie’s cottage, imagining the different places we would visit if we had the chance before an expansive building came into view. Looking more like a castle than just a cottage, it had a neatly trimmed lawn with pretty vines growing across the side of the entrance and a _glass … dome thing_ (I later discovered this was called a conservatory).

The others stood outside the cottage entrance, running to meet us as we arrived, Harry running to Uma with me following closely behind, watching their hug with a smile. As the others reunited I saw Jay move over to the emerald vines before he returned, something orange clutched in his hand. Shyly, he turned back to me (of all people), an orange fruit in his palm, outstretched once more towards me.

Grinning, I took the fruit and, rather than devour it completely, I held it for a moment as the others talked, enjoying the idea that Jay had thought to get something for me for the second time that day.


	2. You say Goodbye and I say Hello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Auradon saved once again and restored to its normal tranquillity, Gil joins Harry and Uma in their return back to the Isle, with a fond farewell to Jay, wondering if they will see each other again.

Uma and her crew were leaving. With Audrey still laying still as a statue in bed and Hades being sent for, there was nothing more for us to do but say goodbye to Uma, Harry and Gil. They hadn’t brought anything with them, so all that was needed to happen was for Gil to return from finding Fairy Godmother and a limo to be sent for; if they were going to have to go back, they would at least do it in style, Mal made sure of that.

The full moon illuminated the concrete pathway and hovered over the water like a ghost, watching over us as we all stood at the back of the school, just at the entrance to the bridge, saying our farewells. Uma was talking to Mal and Evie, the three of them chuckling like old friends as Harry awkwardly patted Dude as he sat in Carlos’ arms, a broad grin on his face. Next to the limo, I stood with Gil, fidgeting with my hands as he grinned that awesome, lopsided grin of his.

‘I kinda wish we were leaving in daylight, you know?’ Gil said, looking around wistfully at our surroundings. ‘Just so I could see the place for the last time properly.’

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

‘It won’t be the last time, bro,’ I replied, attempting to convince myself at the same time. Gil looked at me, still smiling, only there was now slight sadness in his eyes that he was trying to hide.

‘Yeah it will,’ Gil said, looking down at his shoes. I was never one for sad goodbyes, so I groped in my pocket, pulling out the silk scarf I had brought with me that encased as much fruit as I could find at such short notice. In one sharp motion, I took one of Gil’s fumbling hands and placed the scarf and fruit within it, letting go swiftly so as to stop the flush rising up my cheeks. ‘More fruit?’ Gil asked, the lopsided grin forming on his lips once more as he unravelled the scarf to look at the contents within it.

‘Don’t eat them all at once!’ I replied jokingly, knowing that my words would not register whatsoever in Gil’s mind and that the fruit would all be gone by the time he got back to the Isle. Gil laughed, gently wrapping up the scarf once more with his large hands.

‘I have to give _you_ something!’ The boy exclaimed, looking at me with light in his eyes as he put the fruit in his pocket.

‘Oh! N-no that’s –‘

But the blonde opposite me was already untying his bronze bull necklace from around his neck before holding it out towards me, a huge smile on his face.

‘I couldn’t …’ I murmured, throwing up my hands to show I wouldn’t take it.

‘ _Yes_ , you could!’ Gil said, and, when I still didn’t take the necklace from his hand, he stepped further towards me and picked up my hair in one single flourish, his face inches from mine, before placing the necklace on my neck and tying it for me at the back. For a moment, he stayed there, smiling at the image of me with his necklace on, before –

‘Gil, you ready to go?’ Uma asked from behind him. Gil stepped back, rubbing the back of his neck shyly.

‘Yeah,’ He replied to her before turning back to me. ‘Do me a favour – savour every fruit you eat, okay?’ And with that, he got into the limo after Harry and Uma and closed the door behind him as I went to stand with the others, trying to hide my sadness.

The pristine limo started up and began to slide away, Gil’s face appearing in the back window as he waved at them all, smiling sadly as the golden bridge was opened. The others began to disperse, each saying something about needing to get back to Jane or Ben or Doug until I was left by myself, watching the limo drive further and further out of sight, my fingers wrapped around Gil’s necklace.

*****

With Audrey revived back from the dead and Mal’s coronation coming up, I spent most of my time wandering around the school grounds, thinking of the others back in the Isle, wondering why _I_ was given the right to be out of that prison rather than them.

And they were just going to close the barrier. Forever.

The time spent around others, I was irritable, watching my friends be happy with their partners, wishing I could make Gil's dreams of seeing penguins and the world a reality. Worst of all were the reminders of him; I kept noticing fruit here and there around school, or Evie’s house and thinking of saving it for him, wondering if he’d ever come back here again.

Evie and Carlos tried to help, but they had their own problems; Evie trying to make all of the gowns and suits for the coronation and Carlos awkwardly navigating his new relationship with Jane. But one day, as I was sat in Evie’s garden, she brought out two steaming cups of tea and sat down on the grass next to me, straightening out her skirt as she handed me one of the mugs.

‘You miss him don’t you?’ Evie asked, nonchalantly taking a sip from her tea, her eyes still on the conservatory in front of them. I swiftly turned my head to look at her, wondering how to reply, but Evie continued, ‘I saw the way you looked at him, Jay. I’m not blind.’

I took a long swig of tea, wondering how to process this – if Evie had noticed, did that mean Gil had too? Was that the real reason he went back to the Isle with the others; to be away from me?

‘Do you think everyone knows?’ I said, vocalising my worries as I traced the bull necklace soothingly with my fingertips. For the first time since she’d sat down, Evie looked at me, a small, sympathetic smile formed on her lips.

‘Just me,’ she replied, with kindness. ‘Carlos is _way_ too busy being happy with Jane to notice; Mal is concerned about trying to please everyone in Auradon and Gil is … well, _Gil_.’ I chuckled, understanding what she meant. The knot in my stomach had eased slightly; Gil obviously had only left to be with his friends, that was understandable. If, god forbid, Mal, Evie and Carlos were sent back, I’d have to go too; Auradon wouldn’t be the same without them.

‘So,’ Evie continued when I didn’t reply, ‘what are you going to do?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said, honestly. 'Move on, I guess ...'

Evie’s eyebrows knotted together and she let out a deep sigh, looking back out to the front in deep thought.

‘What?’ I asked. Evie sighed again in reply, setting down her tea next to her and turning to look at me again. Wordlessly, she reached out and took my calloused hands in her own, holding them maternally, sympathy in her eyes.

‘It’s a lot easier to _say_ that than it is to actually _do_ it, Jay,’ she said eventually, then, with caution, ‘Why don’t you try … writing to him? We could get a postal system enforced, I’m sure –‘

‘No.’ I detached myself away from her and stood up. ‘What would be the point? He's probably fine without me anyway.’ Evie stood up, trying to take my hand.

‘You don’t _know_ that, Jay –‘

‘Yes, I do!’ I bit back at her, venom in my voice as I turned to face her. ‘It – it’s so easy for everyone else! With their perfect relationships and their perfect lives … For _once_ I had the start of something really great, Evie. And now it’s gone.’ My voice had tumbled to barely a whisper now and I let her wrap her arms around me, stroking my hair.

‘Everyone has their own battles, Jay, you know that.’ I nodded because, _really_ , I did know that. I didn’t mean that, I just – I just wanted to have something good for once.

‘Getting over Gil will be tricky,’ She continued, lifting my chin up to look her in the eyes. ‘It’ll be a slow process, but I’ll be there to help if it’s what you really want.’

I just wanted to be able to sleep at night again without the image of him after he’d given me his necklace burning into the backs of my eyelids - the mind does just really love to torment you, doesn't it?

So, I started to try. The next day at school, I forced my thoughts away from the pirate and instead on every girl that passed; flirting, smiling and winking at every single one as I always had done, willing my mind to rid itself of the memories of Gil. I grew closer to Lonnie and Audrey again, trying not to feel guilty that I was leading them on – but I _wasn’t_ , I’d just grow to like one of them just as I had liked Gil.

‘Hey, Jay,’ Carlos said as we were walking to tourney practice one afternoon. ‘You seem … strange lately, is everything okay?’

‘Everything’s fine.’

‘Because you know you can always talk to me, right?’ Carlos said. I didn’t answer, my eyes focused on the field ahead. ‘Hey!’ he said when I didn’t reply, grabbing my arm to force me to look at him. ‘Talk to me.’

So I did. I told him everything that was raging through my mind after tourney practice, Carlos listening intently without interruptions and sitting quietly afterwards.

‘Well,’ he finally began in a murmur, ‘Mal will just have to open the gate again. That’s the only solution.’

‘ _Or_ a simpler solution would be just to forget all about him.’ Carlos turned to look at me, his gaze intense.

‘Is that what you want?’

‘I – I don’t _know_ what I want.’ It had all been so much simpler when I was imagining it in my head a few days ago; just erase Gil from my memory as if he had never been there in the first place. But Evie was right, putting it into action was difficult, and I didn’t want to forget him; I didn’t want to remove his necklace and throw it into the lake. I wanted to see his lopsided grin again, and his eyes light up at fruit, to show off at a tourney game in front of him and see his reaction from the stands.

‘If we could get her to open the barrier … how would we even do it?’ I asked, looking up at Carlos hopefully.

‘Let’s just get the coronation over with and we can start to convince her that keeping it down is madness,’ Carlos replied, sensing my eagerness as he placed a firm, reassuring hand on my shoulder and smiled at me.

But it turns out, we hadn’t needed to wait for the coronation to end, as Mal decided to raise the barrier there and then as we looked up at her from below the balcony. As Fairy Godmother handed her the wand, my heart soared and, suddenly, a gorgeous, _permanent_ bridge was formed between the two sides, and every single dream I had had since Uma, Gil and Harry had left became reality, with all of us racing to meet with the others in the middle.

And suddenly, there Gil was, his face vibrant and excited, my silk scarf now tied around his wrist as I ran to greet him.

‘Long time, no see,’ I said.

‘Too right!’ Gil replied enthusiastically as we all returned back to Auradon’s side of the bridge to continue the party. Gil by my side, my friends grinning from ear to ear as we welcomed more and more from the Isle, I thought I had never been as happy as I was in that moment.

‘You kept my necklace on?’ Gil asked, warmth in his eyes.

‘I swore to myself I wouldn’t take it off until we removed the barrier,’ I replied, touching the necklace fondly.

‘Same here, bro,’ Gil muttered, lifting up the hand that had my scarf wrapped around its wrist. ‘I – I suppose you’ll be wanting it back, huh?’ He went to remove it, but I placed my hand on his wrist to stop him.

‘Not if you don’t want this back just yet, either,’ I said, my hand around the necklace. Gil’s face broke into an even wider smile. What came next was possibly the greatest day of my life; happiness surrounded each of us, permeating the air we breathed. Mal and Ben stood in the centre, happily talking about their future as Evie and Doug flirted in the corner and Carlos and Jane stood nervously together, awaiting his mother’s imminent arrival. With a gasp, I spotted two people locked together in the far corner and nudged Gil who too grinned at the sight of Harry and Uma finally together. Excitedly, I turned to the boy next to me.

‘What d’you say you and me go exploring?’ I asked, happily. ‘I’ll do a gap year – jungles or icebergs?’

‘Both?’ Gil replied with a grin and I let out a great laugh, happiness soaring through me as we bumped chests and chuckled together. And as we all went through to the main ballroom to a party that would, no doubt, last until the early morning, I couldn’t have been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter - this one took me ages to write for some reason but I loveeeed it! Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you thought! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think should happen next! Thanks for reading :)


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